Hi moms, we are looking to move in the next year and want to make a "lifetime" move this time if possible. The last few times we moved we didn't even research what we were getting into- and we have ended up on some not so great sides of town. Now with a child, we want to make a better decision. I want all the scope on daycare, demographics, schools, crime rate, good stories, bad stories, everything. My husband is a former police officer so we know some things to look for and we are researching census, crime rates, and other stats on line- I am looking for personal do's and dont's for The Colony, Carrollton, Farmers Branch, Flower Mound, and Lewisville. I work in Irving and my husband works in Addison so we want some place in the middle where neither of us has more than a 30 minute drive.
Thanks
My husband is a real estate agent, so he can't really discuss demographics due to RESPA rules but he does have a site he directs his own clients to:
http://www.citytowninfo.com/places/texas
If you would like to be set up on a password protected online search for any of these cites (free of charge), please contact my husband, Mike, at ###-###-#### and he can set you up!
Good luck on your big move!
We live in South Arlington, unfortunately, and are looking to move to Flower Mound, based on the location to my husband's job, quality of schools (check out www.greatschools.net), demographics, and crime rate.
I've heard Coppell is a great family town, but I don't know personally. You could try D Magazine's website and see if they have any info. They usually do a yearly article on the best places to live in the metroplex.
Good luck!
oh wow!! my parents live in irving and i live in richardson, so pretty much in the areas you are talking. my husband works in addison as well. to get from here to irving only takes about 15 minutes (depends on what part of irving, and if you take the HOV lane). richardson is great, north of beltline on the west side...my sons school just got an award of excellence, the schools here are great. my youngest won't start school until fall, but he is looking forward to it. hope the move goes well!
You might want to look into Coppell. The schools are great and there is a wide variety of good neighborhoods in many price ranges. There are great Mom clubs to join, many pre-schools and churches, and lots of extra curricular activities for the kids because of the YMCA and the Aquatic and Rec. Center. It's easy to jump on 121 or 35. The pop. is less than 40,000.
Well, we live in Carrollton and really like it here. Like most towns though, this is one with a wide variety of neighborhoods. I would really only recommend far north Carrollton - along the Hebron corridor. We are in the Lewisville School District and Denton County, which I much prefer to Carrollton/Farmers Branch schools. You'll find Carrollton crosses Dallas and Denton counties and I think there is a tiny part even in Collin Cty. Watch where you are due to tax and school district implications. We happen to be midway between IH35 and the Tollway, so we have awesome access to anywhere pretty easily. I have 4 malls within 20 minutes of me :) My husband used to work in Addison, and it took him about 15 minutes to get to work. We are close to SH121, so if you are ok with the tolls, you can get to Irving pretty easily from here now too - probably close to 30 minutes, but I wouldn't think it is any further. I used to work some in Fort Worth, and it was less than an hour to get there.
As for the other cities you mentioned, I don't know much about Lewsiville in general other than Castle Hills - which is practically Carrollton anyway. We are building there about 2 minutes from where we currently are. It is a great neighborhood with awesome schools, but pretty pricey. I have several friends in The Colony. Their only complaint is really bad traffic. Our business is in Flower Mound, which is a really nice town too, especially with all the new retail in neighboring Highland Village. Again, depending on where exactly, traffic can be a real nightmare and could easily put you more than 30 minutes from Addison. I highly suggest driving wherever you consider buying during rush hour to see what it is like in reality! If you have any specific questions, feel free to contact me.
